In The Know | February 2026

I (really) enjoy reading and I like sharing good resources with others. To help you know if any of these recommendations might be for you, I will try to provide answers to three questions: what is the resource about, why is it important, and what should I do about this? — Dr. Christian Klaue

  • What Great Principals Do Differently: Twenty Things That Matter Most - Todd Whitaker

    What is this resource about? Whitaker provides 20 specific strategies that help principals be effective in their roles. These strategies include suggestions such as: treat everyone with respect every day, all the time; focus on behaviours, then beliefs; be the filter; base your decisions on what your best teachers think; set expectations; and deal with negative or ineffective staff members.

    Why is it important? It is not always easy to be an effective principal. Much of what principals do is based on what they have learned through trial and error. Having some guidance as to strategies that make one more effective is a great support.

    What should I do? This is not a book that needs to be read cover to cover. Focus on a specific strategy, read up on it, and seek to apply it in the coming week. Once you have successfully implemented it several times, add another strategy to your repertoire.

  • Learning By Mistake - Emma Chiappetta

    What is this resource about? Chiappetta is a math teacher and has provided twelve specific strategies on how to help students turn their mistakes into learning opportunities. Some of these strategies include: mistake journals; predictive games; mistake murals; and test corrections and revisions.

    Why is it important? Students often feel humiliated when they make a mistake. Helping to normalize mistakes will also help students learn from the mistakes they have made. Once students lose their fear of mistakes, they will start to focus on what they can learn from their own, and others’, mistakes.

    What should I do? Read through the book and choose one or two strategies to implement. Some strategies may be easier than others depending on the subject matter and the grade level.

  • How Should We Then Live? - Francis A. Schaeffer

    What is this resource about? Francis Schaeffer, one of the first Christians to really talk about what a biblical worldview is and how to develop a biblical worldview, provides a brief history of western thought and culture and shows how our culture today is degrading the more we move away from following God’s Word. He starts with Rome and ends with a description of what Western culture is like in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

    Why is it important? We will not know why our culture is the way it is without having an understanding of how we got to this stage. Schaeffer does a great job in summarizing the cultural impact of the Roman Empire, the Dark Ages, the Renaissance, the Reformation, the various revolutions, the two World Wars, and our (relatively) modern culture. With this description, we can see not only why we are where we are (culturally speaking), but also where we are going through the mid 2000s.

    What should I do? As you read this book, think through how you would respond to the various ideas culture has introduced over the last two to three decades. Schaeffer wrote this book in the early 1970s; how do we get from where he was in the 1970s to where we are in the mid 2020s?

  • You Never Meet Anyone By Chance - Ernie Klassen

    Who is this resource about? This is a collection of evangelistic conversations Ernie Klassen had with a variety of people as he travelled through Germany and Canada. Ernie Klassen came to the Lord as a 16 year old and later travelled to Germany to found Bibelschule Brake, the largest evangelical Bible school in Germany. Klassen was an evangelist like few others before him. He was able to turn almost any conversation into a gospel presentation, even when he was stopped by the police or held up at customs. Many conversations are easy enough to imitate and open conversations with people we come into contact with.

    How can I pray? Pray for opportunities and openings to share the gospel with those we come into contact with; God will make a way for us to share the gospel.

In The Know | January 2026

The theme for this month is hope. Hope is the expectation of something better that will come to pass. See how this applies to the following four books. — Dr. Christian Klaue

  • Hopes for School - Karen Phan and Jennifer Casa-Todd

    What is this resource about? George Couros has written several books and produces a regular podcast. One of his readers, a high school student, commented on something he said and Couros invited her to put her thoughts into a book. The student, Karen Phan, was then connected to a teacher, Jennifer Casa-Todd, who then commented on Phans’ recommendations for improving school. Phan’s recommendations for improving school are: allow for mistakes, move from summative to more formative assessment, improve connections within schools, address the homework load, make school more practical, and give students more voice, choice, and agency. Casa-Todd then provides a rebuttal or comment to round out the suggestions.

    Why is it important? Most books dealing with educational improvements have been written by educators (adults). This is the first book I have come across that was mainly written by a student. The perspective she shares is valid for many Canadian schools as well (public and Christian). It is worth talking to our students to see what their impression of school is as they are the ones who are experiencing ‘school’ more than the parents. Of course those conversations need to be filtered (there are some concepts that need to be taught even if students are not always excited by it).

    What should I do? Sit down and listen to the voice of a student on how schools can become more student-friendly and still when it comes to student learning.

  • Meaningful and Relevant - A.J. Juliani

    What is this resource about? Juliani addresses student engagement and how that can be improved. As he states in the title, school work should be more meaningful and relevant to students. ( I get it, but we still have to teach the curriculum). Juliani offers a variety of suggestions on how to make this happen in the average classroom.

    Why is it important? We live in a world that fosters distraction. Attention spans are decreas (That is not a typo; that is an example of a shortening of our attention spans). How can we increase student engagement in our classrooms without having to relearn or restructure everything that we do? We want students to care about their learning as students need to take ownership of their own learning. Any strategies we can obtain to help make students want to learn deserve attention.

    What should I do? While there is a flow to the book, it is also possible to only consider a chapter that appears relevant to your situation right now. I enjoy reading Juliani as it is obvious he cares about students, student learning, and helping teachers help students learn more effectively.

  • Reclaiming Conversation - Sherry Turkle

    What is this resource about? Turkle describes the impact that digital devices have on the ability to carry a conversation. Her research has shown that the more time people spend on their devices, the lower their ability to carry a conversation and the lower their ability to show empathy to others.

    Why is it important? A conversation is becoming a lost art. People spend more time on their phones and, as a result, they spend less time talking. There are many today who prefer a text to a phone call so that they don’t have to talk. A conversation improves the ability to discuss a topic, develop patience as they wait for the response, display empathy as they have to try to understand where the other person is coming from, and open up many new topics of conversation.

    What should I do? Practice putting the phone down and talking to others around you. Try to have family time in the evenings where no one reaches for their phone. The more time spent away from a digital device, the greater the opportunity to expand your thinking and your ability to converse.

  • The White Fox of Andhra - Donald S. Fox

    Who is this resource about? This is the biography of Silas Fox who ended up as a missionary to India. What makes this story interesting is that Silas did NOT want to become a missionary. If he would be willing, he knew that God would send him to India and Silas did not like curry. Eventually he followed God’s leading, just like Jonah, and decided that he would become a missionary. Of course God directed him to India. Years later, when he was back in Canada on furlough, he cut his visit short as he could not wait to get back to India to eat more curry. He was very open about being a missionary, much to the chagrin of his children, as they did not always enjoy being so conspicuous. Although I never met Donald Fox, I had the privilege of spending time with two of his children as I attended the same church they did.

    How can I pray? We are sometimes afraid to be willing to go where God leads us as we often fear that he will take us overseas to a place we do not want to go. This is exactly what happened to Donald. And yet, he experienced blessing upon blessing through his obedience to God. Pray that you will.

In The Know | November 2025

Books that actually help: practical forms for inclusive schools, career moves for teachers, parenting wisdom via Tolkien & Lewis, and true-life inspiration from missionaries. Leaders, teachers, families—there’s something here for you!

  • Nuts & Bolts of Inclusive Education - Barbara J. Newman

    What is this resource about? Rather than being a book that describes the philosophy behind inclusive education, this is a book that provides forms for everything from an intake process, to creating IEPs, to communicating with staff, students, and parents, writing report cards, and working with paraeducators. As such, it is more a source of forms rather than anything else. Keep in mind, these are written through a US lens, but the general information is still useful.

    Why is it important? There are forms for just about every school process, but many of the forms for Inclusive Education (formerly Special Education) are created for the public school system. The benefit of this book is that the forms are created for Christian schools.

    What should I do? Obtain a copy of this book and peruse the forms so that you can adapt them to your school as you need.

  • Whose Permission Are You Waiting for? - William D. Parker

    What is this resource about? I’ve talked with many teachers who have been teaching for a few years and started to get a little bored with the regular routine and wondered, ‘What now?’ Parker answers that question and provides a number of steps to take, based on the interests of the teacher. As he argues in his title, there are times teachers seem to wait for permission from someone before thinking of making a change. Parker provides a variety of principles for teachers (and leaders) to follow if they are looking at a change in role within their career.

    Why is it important? As teachers deal with the stress of the role of teaching, they often wonder what it would be like to change roles. When that happens, the follow-up question then moves to what role? It may not seem like there are more roles to choose from — one is either a teacher or an administrator. Parker shows that there are more options and what practical steps need to be taken in order to get into those roles.

    What should I do? If you are thinking of a change in your role within the educational system, this is a book well-worth reading.

  • On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis - Louis Markos

    What is this resource about? Markos revisits the classical virtues of courage, temperance, wisdom, and justice, and adds what he calls the theological virtues of friendship, faith, hope, and love as he walks the reader through the works of Tolkien and Lewis, drawing heavily on The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia.

    Why is it important? As a reader, I have managed to pass on my love of reading to all of my children. I count that as one of my successes as a parent. However, in that process I have often had to think through what I want my children to be filling their minds with. Two of the authors I recommended were Tolkien and Lewis. We would listen to the Radio Theatre version of The Chronicles of Narnia as produced by Focus on the Family during a number of our road trips. I knew I liked both authors, but Markos provides justification for why both sets of books are helpful and healing to its readers. They are both written in a style of writing that helps instruct good morals (they are, after all, written based on biblical principles) as well as tell a good story. Markos helps provide a number of discussion points that parents can discuss with their children as they read these books.

    What should I do? What makes Tolkien and Lewis such good authors? The fact that they incorporate biblical virtues in such a well written story that makes people want to go and live them out in their lives.

  • Unfolding Destinies - Olive Fleming Liefeld, Verne Becker

    Who is this resource about? This is the story of Pete Fleming (who was martyred in Ecuador in 1956 along with Nate Saint, Jim Elliott, Roger Youdarian, and Ed McCully) as told by his wife, Olive Ainslie. She describes his upbringing, their relationship as children, their courtship, their marriage, his martyrdom, her subsequent marriage to Walter Liefeld, and her return, at long last, to Ecuador to meet with Pete’s killers and see where that happened. Often, when we read biographies, we read the sanitized version — the version where only the positive or strong aspects of their character or work is described. Olive, however, describes Pete as he really was, with both his strengths and weaknesses. This makes for a much more interesting read, as we can see that Pete was a real person, just like we are today. Therefore, if Pete was like us, it also means that we can be like Pete in our desire to be obedient to the Lord Jesus.

    How can I pray? The same God that inspired Pete to give his life is the same God who leads us today. Pray for missionaries, as we never know what they could be facing. Pray for the God followers, that they would be as eager to wholeheartedly live for God as Pete did.

In The Know | October 2025

Book covers: Leading Insights, Teach Like It's Music, Horse Sense for People, Leap of Faith

From AI in schools to creative teaching strategies, parenting insights, and inspiring biographies, our latest book reviews by Dr. Christian Klaue offer practical takeaways for leaders, teachers, and families.

  • Leading Insights: Artificial Intelligence

    What is this resource about? I was not sure if I should put this in the leader or teacher category as it fits into both. This is the latest ACSI monograph and discusses how we should consider AI, particularly generative artificial intelligence, in a school context. The various authors comment on the philosophy behind AI, how the various levels of school users (leaders, teachers, and students) interact with AI, and practical steps schools have taken when it comes to AI.

    Why is it important? AI is a (newish) tool that is being readily used. However, as all tools, the tools shapes us as we use it. Using a tool such as AI is having significant implications for the users. Since we, in Christian schools, desire to do everything from a Christian perspective, we need to review how we will use AI from a biblical perspective as well. This monograph is a great first step for school leaders to start wrestling with this issue.

    What should I do? Have your admin team read this book and then start the conversations with admin, teachers, and students, in deciding how you will interact with AI at your school.

  • Teach Like It’s Music - Doug Goodkin

    What is this resource about? Goodkin is a music teacher using the Orff methodology and wrote this book of suggested teaching strategies culled from teaching music for use by regular classroom teachers. Some of the activities sometimes feel like they could be a little bit of a stretch, but there are still many suggestions that could be very effective in a classroom. Although he is not a Christian, he does make some suggestions that could definitely be considered as a biblical integration; for example, how we model school as a learning community and how to live out community within the whole school context. Goodkin includes a summary at the end of every chapter to make it easier to find specific suggestions that you may want to implement.

    Why is it important? Schools often focus on academics rather than the Arts. Goodkin makes the argument that classroom teachers can learn a number of teaching strategies from music teachers and that there should be more cross-pollination between subject areas.

    What should I do? Check out the chapter summaries for inspiration on how to positively impact your teaching strategies and then read the appropriate chapter for how to implement the strategies. It is also an interesting read to learn more about what goes into a good music program (it’s not as easy as it may appear)!

  • Parent

    Horse Sense for People - Monty Roberts

    What is this resource about? Roberts is one of the foremost horse trainers in the world and has even modeled his horse training methods to Queen Elizabeth II. The more he taught others about equus (his term for the ‘language’ that horses use with each other), the more he realized that the principles he was teaching were also applicable to people. Some of the principles he discusses include communication, trust, respect, choice, and change. Each chapter starts with a description of the principle as used within the horse training community, an explanation of the principle, what the principle looks like as applied to humans, and then some case studies of where this worked. It is a great insight into the horse training community as well into his philosophy of child-rearing.

    Why is it important? Although his principles are taken from his knowledge of horses, they may just as easily have been taken from Scripture. His ideas are in line with what Scripture teaches and the examples from his work with horses gives these principles a new angle. A book like this could be even more helpful for parents working with children who are interested in horses as there are many anecdotes that Roberts weaves in that would be of interest to those children.

    What should I do? Read and take notes on the specific principles you would want to incorporate within your own child-raising strategies.

  • Leap of Faith - Norman P. Grubb

    Who is this resource about? This is a description of the early years of the Christian Literature Crusade. This was a ministry started in the UK in the 1930s to make theologically sound written materials available to the average person. They rented showrooms in high (pedestrian) traffic areas and would willingly engage in conversations with anyone who came into the store. Many were saved through such conversations and many others obtained Christian resources at reasonable prices. This ministry expanded into Germany just after the war ended and then into a number of other European countries. Those who ministered with the CLC saw God provide all their income as well as the financial resources for the rooms and resources that were obtained.

    How can I pray? Written resources have the advantage of being easily given to others. It can be very interesting to see just how far written resources can travel over time. God can use these resources, especially when a person is not comfortable in engaging in conversations with others about spiritual matters. Pray that God would continue to use His written Word around the world to lead others to Him.

In the Know | September 2025

Book covers from featured books

To start off this year, I am revisiting the books I recommended last year and offering my favourite read for that category this past year. I will also offer a short summary of the book to refresh everyone’s memory. — Dr. Christian Klaue

For Leaders (2024–2025)

Here are this year’s standout reads for principals and administrators—books that spark growth, sharpen leadership skills, and encourage godly wisdom in school leadership.

  • What Makes a Great Principal – George Couros

    Couros has asked a number of educators to write on the following descriptors of an effective principal.

  • Change – John Kotter

    Kotter describes the process for trying to implement change at an organization.

  • The Hard Hat – Jon Gordon

    This is the biography of George Boiardi and the 21 traits of a good team player that he embodied.

  • The Principal’s Guide to Conflict – Cory Schwanke

    Schwanke describes the main types of conflict that take place in schools and then offers a three step process to resolve these conflicts in a productive manner.

  • Leaders Eat Last – Simon Sinek

    The five key lessons in this book refer to the value of a godly leader: as the culture, so the company; as the leader, so the culture; integrity matters; friends matter; and lead the people, not the numbers.

  • The Pruning Principle – Steve Brown

    The usual experience for teachers is to have more work added every year: add another initiative or join this committee. It is almost unheard of to remove a task from the teachers.

  • What Can I Take Off Your Plate? – Jennifer Handley & Mike Donnelly

    Handley and Donnelly address the important issue of teacher burnout.

  • Advice From the Principal’s Desk – John Franklin

    Franklin provides guidance for administrators just starting out on their journey.

⭐ Dr. Klaue’s Top Picks for Leaders

I really could not narrow it down. These are three great resources written for different audiences:


Teachers (2024-2025)

Practical, inspiring, and full of classroom-tested wisdom—these reads will encourage both your teaching practice and your heart.

  • The Discussion Book - Stephen D. Brookfield, Stephen Preskill

    This book provides the top ten discussion strategies for 11 different situations.

  • Building Thinking Classrooms - Peter Liljedahl

    This is specifically a resource to help teach math more effectively.

  • New Teacher Mindset - Trevor Muir, John Spencer

    This is a book about lessons that have been learned the hard way about starting a school year off right.

  • Teaching Redemptively (3rd Edition) - Donovan L. Graham

    Graham covers the foundations beliefs that undergird Christian education and then translates those beliefs into practices that guide Christian education.

  • Rekindle Your Professional Fire - Mike Anderson

    Anderson puts into words what we already know: teaching is challenging and it is easy to get burnt out.

  • Learning by Choice - A.J. Juliani

    Juliani advocates for students that they may have increased choice at school.

  • Hanging In - Jeffrey Benson

    Benson provides practical steps on dealing with 13 different types of challenging students.

  • Who Owns the Learning? - Alan November

    While this book is a bit dated (2012), November describes the importance of enhancing student learning through student agency.

⭐Dr. Klaue’s Top Pick for Teachers

My top pick for this category for the 2024/2025 school year is: New Teacher Mindset. It was almost a tie again for this category. I enjoy learning from Trevor Muir and John Spencer and this is probably their best book yet. It is written for new teachers to ensure that they start off on the right foot with every skill area covered.

Parents (2024-2025)

Encouragement for discipleship at home, wisdom for parenting, and resources to help families grow together in faith.

  • Getting Back to Discipleship - Various authors

    This book describes the process of becoming a disciple and then switching gears to making disciples.

  • Tolkien’s Ordinary Virtues - Mark Eddy Smith

    Smith reviews 30 virtues and reveals their role in The Lord of the Rings.

  • Street Smarts - Gregory Koukl

    Koukl has provided a way for parents to talk to their children about any and every topic.

  • A Good Return - John C. Lennox

    Lennox looks at the relationship between Christianity and work. 

  • End the Stalemate - Sean McDowell, Tim Muehlhoff

    As the subtitle says, this book is all about helping people (parents) move past cancel culture to being able to have meaningful conversations (with their children).

  • The Men We Need - Brant Hansen

    Hansen describes the six character traits that make up a healthy masculinity:

    1. Embrace the real

    2. Protect the vulnerable

    3. Be ambitious about the right things

    4. Make women and children feel safe, not threatened.

    5. Choose today whom you plan on becoming tomorrow

    6. Take responsibility for your own spiritual life.

  • Connecting Church and School - Paul Coxall

    Coxall describes how we should go about teaching the Bible to (our) children. 

  • From Strength to Strength - Arthur C. Brooks

    Brooks deals with the issue of aging in our society today.

⭐Dr. Klaue’s NOTE

I can’t pick a top book for this category for this year.These are excellent reads that will speak to a variety of parents.

Autobiographies/Biographies (2024-2025)

Stories of faith, courage, and perseverance—these biographies remind us how God works in extraordinary lives.

  • Abraham: Friend of God - John C. Lennox

    Lennox wrote this biography of Abraham to deepen our understanding of the real individual.

  • The Savage My Kinsman - Elisabeth Elliot

    How would you respond if your spouse was murdered and the murderers then invited you to live with them in an isolated village?

  • In Light of Eternity - Mack Tomlinson

    This is a biography of Leonard Ravenhill, one of the foremost experts on revival.

  • The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers - Maxwell King

    This is the first authorized biography of Mr. Rogers and describes how his childhood led to his life's-work as a pastor to America’s children.

  • Peter Fleming - Ken Fleming

    This is the biography of Peter Fleming, one of the five missionaries martyred in Ecuador in 1956 by the Auca (Waorani).

  • God is Faithful - J. B. Nicholson, Jr.

    This is a collection of stories by missionaries about how God provided for them.

  • A Song of Nagasaki - Paul Glynn

    This is a biography of Takahashi Nagai, a professor of radiology in Nagasaki who survived the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki.

  • The Tears of My Soul - Sokreaksa S. Himm

    This is an autobiography of Sokreaksa Himm, a Cambodian whose large family was wiped out by the Khmer Rouge.

⭐ Dr. Klaue’s Top Pick

My top pick for this category for the 2024/2025 school year is: A Song of Nagasaki because of the extra-ordinary circumstances it describes: a survivor of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki who ends up leading many other Japanese to Christ because of how he responded to this event.